Rural Electric Community Assistance Program (RECA)

Is there a special project that your non-profit organization has been wanting to start and has been short on funding?

Or have you applied for a loan only to find a high interest rate and collateral needed?

Has your organization been looking for a low-interest, non-collateral loan with no luck?

REA Energy Cooperative, Inc., along with the Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association (PREA) may have the answer for you!!

PREA promotes a “community facilities” initiative that benefits rural areas. They work closely with member cooperatives and local community leaders to financially support vital community facilities in rural areas – facilities like hospitals, schools, fire companies and emergency services. To help carry out this important work, PREA created the Rural Electric Community Assistance program (RECA), a low-interest loan program targeted to assist rural cooperative areas in improving the quality of life in their service areas.

Goals of the PREA RECA Loan Program

The RECA fund was created to improve the quality of life in rural communities served by cooperatives in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

These low-interest loans from RECA are intended to supplement other sources of funding from private lenders, public bodies and non-profit economic development agencies into infrastructure projects in rural communities. The loans:

Make affordable credit resources available to public and non-profit entities to assist in improving the quality of life in their local communities.

Help facilitate the participation of local commercial financial institutions and state or local governmental assistance programs in these projects.

Manage the revolving loan portfolio prudently and professionally so that the available fund capital grows over time to benefit non-profit cooperative members.

Who Is Eligible to Apply?

Applicants may include non-profit orga­nizations, including emergency services, municipal authorities, school districts, civic/service groups and educational or health-care entities which enhance community infrastructure or life quality, in parts of Armstrong, Blair, Cambria, Clearfield, Indiana, Jefferson and Westmoreland county areas served by REA Energy Coopera­tive, Inc.

Touchstone Energy® Cooperatives is a national network of electric cooperatives across 46 states that provides resources and leverages partnerships to help member cooperatives and their employees better engage and serve their members. By working together, Touchstone Energy® Cooperatives stand as a source of power and information to their 32 million member-owners every day.